NEWS
30 Jun 2020
What inspired you to create a Fairtrade accredited range of sport balls?
A long story but I’ll keep it brief. We wanted to change the game in sports ball production. Through the Scottish Fair Trade Forum a group of like-minded and ethically-minded individuals with an interest in Fair Trade and co-operatives (and sport) wanted to raise awareness of Fairtrade sports balls in Scotland. We teamed up with Jamie Lloyd who had done great work in England selling Fairtrade sports balls through his business Fair Corp. We all believed in social justice and that Fairtrade was one of the best ways to help developing country workers get a fair deal and a fair go in life. All of us (there were 8 founders) believe in creating a fairer world. We said right from the start that if the big sports ball brands could be persuaded to manufacture under Fairtrade terms we would go off and do something else. They haven’t.
What were the main challenges you faced in order to get it launched; and are you still facing these challenges today?
Launching back in 2014 was the easier part. We were lucky enough to receive start-up funding from Glasgow City Council (where we are based) and had a successful community share offer raising more than £100k through our 115 member investors. Since then every day has been a challenge. We have a core group of Fair Trade supporters. Schools are among our biggest clients, but even they are faced with budget restrictions and often despite wanting to “play fair” are forced to go with cheaper non Fairtrade products. We were lucky to get a big order from the Scottish Football Association for their Midnight League community project but funding for this was cut and that project discontinued. League clubs have long established ties with some of the big brand football manufacturers and we have found it very difficult to persuade them to switch to Fairtrade balls. Often clubs are given balls for free so it can be a very hard sell indeed. With Scotland and Wales being Fair Trade Nations and hundreds of Fair Trade towns, villages and cities across the UK we expected initiatives to ensure the use of Fairtrade products in sports centres etc, but this has not happened with just token gestures towards acknowledging Fair Trade towns status. On top of all of this individuals and organisations face financial restrictions and Fairtrade balls are not the cheapest, they can’t be as when prices are rock bottom it’s the workers mostly in developing countries who suffer. So we totally understand that not everyone can afford to make the most ethical choices. I think also Fairtrade as a whole is suffering from a bout of indifference and an assumption (wrongly) that Fairtrade products are everywhere and no more needs to be done. That’s certainly not the case with Fairtrade sports balls which still account for wayless than a quarter of 1% of global sports ball sales.
What were the most memorable, defining moments during this time?
Support from Fair Trade Groups and organisations like Lochardyl Primary School who fundraised and bought some Fairtrade balls to give to their local football club. The Inverness Caledonian Thistle Women’s Team then trained with the balls. Other clubs like St Mirren WFC have shown dedication to using our balls and train and play their home games with them. The award winning AFC Unity who always insist on playing as well as training with Bala Sport balls. This club has even defied their league to play with Fairtrade balls and are an inspiration. Our first defining moment was when fellow community benefit society, FC United of Manchester chose to play their friendly against the mighty Portuguese team Benfica with our Fairtrade balls at the opening of their new stadium. Perhaps the biggest buzz I have personally gotten from our promotional work was our two years of partnership with the Homeless World Cup to provide the official match balls. The first year we did this the tournament was held in Glasgow and we teamed up with fellow co-operative, Scotmid to provide the balls. The HWC is all about changing lives of people affected with homelessness and addiction, and we are about helping change the lives of developing country sports ball workers, so we are a perfect fit. The tournaments brought us international exposure. It was also great to see our Fairtrade Team footballs featured in the Netflix drama The Stranger (shown in 190 countries). The director of the series specifically asked for these balls to be used in all the football scenes (If you have Netflix, check out episode 5 in particular for our balls).
What helped you to see it through to the end?
Support from the groups mentioned above and individual campaigners especially Sharron Hardwick and her single-handedly run Fair Trade in Football & Rugby Campaign has helped us keep going in the highly competitive sports ball market. Also seeing first hand on our trips to visit the workers in the factories we use in India and Pakistan the significant difference the Fairtrade Premium they receive makes. The fact that as well as workers receiving fair rates of pay and working in safe conditions with access to union representation, they benefit from the likes of free eye and diabetes tests and subsidized glasses, free school books and backpacks for their kids, cut-price household goods and free, safe transport to and from work for those living in rural areas. Most significantly though the Fairtrade premium has helped build water purification plants. These are built outside the factory gates and allow anyone in the area to fill up containers of free, safe drinking water, so Fairtrade is benefiting the wider community, not just those working within the system. Another really encouraging aspect is when I talk to youngsters in primary and secondary schools and they really get the concept of fairness and Fair Trade and that gives me great hope for the future. And the always really love the look of our balls.
What are your plans for the next 5 years?
We’ve created a new high quality ethical sports ball brand with a unique selling point - its ethical Fairtrade credentials. Bala Sport was meant to be a game changer and we’ve certainly raised awareness. We already have customers across Europe but like to see expansion throughout the region. However we haven’t reached the level of sales we’d hoped for and we face a very uncertain future. Even before the coronavirus pandemic we were struggling, so I hope Bala Sport will still exist and make a much bigger difference in the lives of developing country sports ball workers. I’d love to see the partnership with the Homeless World Cup we had for a couple of years inspire other tournaments and leagues to “play fair” with Fairtrade balls. Fairtrade really can help change lives for the better, but we need more organisations and individuals to help us reach this goal. The Fairtrade Premium projects I mentioned above are great, but with more sales of our balls we could help achieve so much more.
